feet on the ground, head in the sky
by seren23
Summary: Poe's eyes rise to hers and they look at one another for a long moment. Then he sighs as he smiles and lifts a hand to rest on top of Finn's wrist. She can see his fingers slip to rest over where Finn's pulse beats steady under his skin. Rey then surprises herself by shifting one of her hands to cover Poe's where it rests on Finn's wrist. Post-movie, pre-OT3, Rey POV.


A/N: I just wanted to write something about these three because I couldn't get them out of my head. I hope you enjoy! Title is from the Talking Heads' song 'This Must be the Place (Naive Melody)'.

* * *

It's a jarring thing to go through your entire life secure in the knowledge that there was very little you could do to change things to being able to wield a lightsaber of all things and come very close to besting a high-ranking member of the First Order.

"Forget 'almost' besting him," Rey murmurs beside Finn's sleeping body. "I think I _did_ best him. How's that for scavenger scum, right?"

Finn doesn't answer her, but his heartbeat is strong and steady on the screen nearby, so she doesn't worry. Instead she stares at her hands.

They're not very big with slender fingers and calluses that mark how long she's been using them for hard work. She's always been rather careful with her hands, making sure to keep them warm during the cold desert nights and covered during the boiling desert days.

Her hands were her only resource on Jakku, but now...

They don't feel like her hands anymore.

They've done things that she's never even considered doing before.

They've held a blaster steady enough to hit their mark with surprising accuracy.

They've piloted a Corellian YT-1300 light freighter through a valley of ghost ships.

They've held a lightsaber and drawn blood.

They've been...powerful.

And right now, they're shaking a little bit.

Okay, they're shaking a lot.

She slips them under her thighs and sits on them while she stares at Finn's still face.

Nope.

Still shaking.

They've also held this man's hand and they didn't shake then, so maybe...

She pulls her hands out from under her thighs and picks up his hand and clasps it tightly between hers.

She sighs in relief. They stop shaking and she closes her eyes as she leans forward, resting her forehead on the edge of Finn's bed, her calluses rubbing against Finn's as she holds on tightly.

"Never had a friend before," she says to the floor. "I don't suppose you did either." She lifts her head and stares into space. "Did the Force do this? Bring us together at just that right moment? Is it that powerful?"

 _Am_ I _that powerful?_ lingers on the tip of her tongue, but she swallows the words back.

"There's so much I just don't know," she breathes dropping her head to the bed once more. "I don't know what to do, Finn."

She closes her eyes and focuses on just breathing as steadily as she can and tries not to clutch too tightly to Finn's hands.

"Hey."

Her head whips up and her vision swims a bit before it focuses on Poe standing a few feet away on the other side of Finn's bed.

"Hey," Rey says back.

"Are you-?" he says gesturing behind him. "I can come back."

"No," she says shaking her head a little and trying to smile. "He'd like you to be here."

The smile Poe gives her makes her feel warm inside and her own smile evens out a little. She'd only met him the once in the control room after the map to Luke Skywalker was completed and she senses nothing but good will from him. Well, good will and curiosity about her, but considering how curious she is about herself, she can't really begrudge him for it.

Plus, he visits Finn almost as much as she does and that puts him firmly in her Good Person books.

He pulls a chair over and sits down, leaning back to look Finn over. "No big changes, huh?"

"He's breathing better," she says. "And apparently he's not in as much pain."

"Good," Poe says leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees. "How are you?"

As always, when someone asks her about her well-being, Rey stares and then blinks. "I'm fine."

"Yeah?" he asks arching his eyebrow at her. "'Cause that's quite the grip you've got on him."

Rey jerks a little and looks down at her hands, noticing how white her knuckles are. "Oh." She loosens her grip on Fin's hands. "I'm sorry, Finn."

"I don't think he minds," Poe says chuckling and at first she thinks he might be making fun of Finn's unconsciousness, but realizing that he's referring to Finn in general, Rey smiles.

"He grabbed my hand about two minutes after meeting me," she says rubbing her thumb over his index finger.

"Yeah, guy's got a good grip," Poe says.

They both stare at Finn's chest as he breathes evenly in his deep sleep.

"So, you're off soon, aren't you?" Poe asks.

Rey nods, glancing up at him. "I have to find him. I have to...figure this all out."

Poe nods. "Kind of wish I could come with you. I hate not being able to be the one to complete a mission."

"You're needed here," she says. "The General; she depends on you."

"I'm being asked to help train the new recruits, too," he says scrubbing a hand over his jaw.

"Well, you are the best pilot in the galaxy," Rey says grinning slightly.

He huffs out a laugh. "Yeah, plus they want my, ah, expertise on surviving extreme circumstances." He lets out another laugh, but this one sounds like it aches. "I now have unique experience now in withstanding torture, you see."

Rey's body flashes cold and she remembers the feel of Kylo Ren sifting through her mind, pulling out memories as though they were spare parts to be studied, cleaned and then sold for a quarter ration. Poe's eyes don't meet hers but stay firmly on Finn's face and she notices a tremor in the hands fisted on his knees.

She swallows. "Holding his hand helps. With the shaking."

Poe's eyes rise to hers and they look at one another for a long moment. Then he sighs as he smiles and lifts a hand to rest on top of Finn's wrist. She can see his fingers slip to rest over where Finn's pulse beats steady under his skin.

Rey then surprises herself by shifting one of her hands to cover Poe's where it rests on Finn's wrist.

He looks at her with pleased eyes and she just stares back. His expression turns slightly teasing as he raises his other hand and covers her hand where it lies on top of his. She blinks and stares down at the mess of hands holding onto one another and when she raises her head to look at Poe, he's grinning.

"You're right," he says. "It does help."

Rey grins back and for a moment all her worries lift off her shoulders.

They spend a quarter of an hour sitting there, silently holding onto their friend and each other until they're shooed away by the nurse.

* * *

The next night, Rey's back beside Finn's bedside, datapad in hand as she goes over the course Chewbacca plotted for the journey to find Luke Skywalker. She traces the route with the pad of her finger, her eyes drinking in the unfamiliar names of star systems she never knew existed. She's equal parts excited, sad and terrified. Excited to be flying in the Millenium Falcon on a journey of epic proportions; sad to be leaving Finn; and terrified because what if this is a wild Bantha chase and no one's there? What if Luke Skywalker is truly a myth and there's no one in the galaxy that can help her figure out what's happening to her?

Her finger hovers above the last plotted point on the map and she wonders and worries.

"So can you actually blast lasers with your eyes?" Poe asks from where he's clearly been watching her in the doorway. "'Cause if you can, that's awesome. But it also makes me wonder what that datapad ever did to you."

Rey smiles and shakes her head. "Nothing. It's safe and no, I can't blast lasers with my eyes." She pauses. "I don't think."

"If anyone could," he says lightly as he steps into the room carrying two mugs. "Here. It's chilly in here tonight."

"I'm fine," she says. "Jakku at night is colder."

"Oh, I remember," he says sitting down and handing her a mug. "But humor me and take this and say 'Thank you ever so much, Poe. What would I do without you?'"

"'Thank you ever so much, Poe. What would I do without you?'" she monotones, but she takes the proffered mug.

He winks at her as he takes his usual seat, his hand dropping onto Finn's and squeezing gently, before he takes a sip from his mug.

Rey puts the datapad on the floor and looks at the contents of the mug. It's a light brown color and smells unfamiliar. She sniffs it and frowns a little before sipping.

Flavor and warmth explode on her tongue and for a moment she can't swallow as she stares wide-eyed at Poe.

Looking both amused and concerned, he asks, "Are you okay? Swallow, Rey."

She swallows and blinks at first at him and then down at the mug. The taste is unlike anything she's ever had before. She can recognize the 'sweet' taste, but it's nothing like the soda they serve in the canteen. It's mellow and rich and, she takes another sip, _wonderful_.

"Like it?" Poe asks smiling and looking absurdly proud of himself.

"What is it?" she asks taking a large sip and closing her eyes.

"Hot chocolate," he says. "It's from the same bean that you get coffee from, but this has more sweetener and milk. Someone found a stash and decided to use it up before we leave."

"I like it," she says breathing in the smell of _chocolate_ and sipping again.

"Good," he says. "I snagged a packet to take with you. Space gets cold, you know. Colder than Jakku nights."

She nods. "I know. Thank you."

"Anything for a friend," he says smiling around the rim of his mug.

Rey drops her gaze down to her mug and feels a happy tremble inside at the idea of having another friend.

 _That's two now,_ she thinks as she reaches out to hold Finn's hand where it rests on the bed.

"Are you ready to go?" he asks.

"Almost," she says. "Chewbacca has everything fixed and we'll head out day after tomorrow."

"Well, that's the ship ready," he says smiling. "I meant, are _you_ ready?"

Her grip tightens on Finn's hand and she curls herself around the still warm mug. "I have to be."

"No, you don't," he says softly. "You really don't, Rey."

"No," she raises her head to look at him. "I do. I have to know what happened to me. What's _still_ happening to me. There's this - this power in me now. Just beneath my skin and I don't know what to do with it."

She stops talking and looks down to her hand wrapped around Finn's. She didn't mean to say any of that out loud and she eyes her hot chocolate suspiciously and wonders if chocolate is some kind of truth serum.

"I just," she says. "I have to be ready, Poe." She lifts her head again to see him watching her with nothing but an open expression. "I am ready."

And she is.

Because just beyond the _need_ to know more; she _wants_ to know more.

Feeling something like relief at having said the words out loud, she sips her hot chocolate and runs her thumb over Finn's knuckles.

"Will you look out for him?" she asks knowing she hardly needs to ask, but wanting to just the same.

"Always," Poe answers firmly and she smiles into her mug. "Will you look out for yourself?"

"Always," she says just as firmly.

"Good," he says. "Now, talk me through the route you've no doubt memorized and I'll tell you what I know about any of the places you're going through."

Still holding onto Finn's hand, she sets her empty mug on the floor and reaches for her datapad.

* * *

Poe was right.

Space is cold.

But she doesn't feel it when she's flying through star systems, staring out the window of the Milennium Falcon and feeling the thrum of the engines. Chewbacca, or Chewie as he insists on, is a great teacher and he shows her all of the ship's quirks and what he doesn't show her, she seeks out.

All in all, she couldn't ask for a better journey or co-pilot.

Communication with the Resistance is patchy, and she can only send short messages and the occasional hologram, but she tries and isn't surprised to find that Poe is her main source of contact.

She's been gone two weeks when a brief message comes through from him saying that Finn finally woke up. He opened his eyes for a grand total of three minutes and the first thing he said was her name.

* * *

Rey spends her first few days with Luke Skywalker following him around the island and telling him everything she knows. She, very firmly, gets the impression that he already knows most of what she's telling him, but for some reason saying the words out loud is therapeutic and she keeps talking.

The next few days are spent still following him around the island as she tries to convince him to train her.

She accidentally makes a boulder explode when arguing with him and that sways things her way.

After that, her days begin to blur together.

* * *

Rey sits down cross-legged in front of R2-D2 and nods at the droid to start recording.

"Hey," she says smiling a little. "The last time I messaged you I was en route. But we made it. We're here. And I'm learning so much. It's overwhelming and I guess I wanted to tell you all about it." She takes a deep breath. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to clear your mind of thought? Because it's hard. It's really, really, really hard." She brightens. "On the plus side, I can stand on one hand now."

* * *

She's soaking wet after a lesson gone wrong (Or right, Luke says, but it depends on if she's learned anything. And she has. Never attempt to stand on the edge of a wall beside the sea whilst attempting to throw a boulder the size of her head without confirming your balance on said wall.) but she still sits down in front of R2-D2 who is happily telling her that she has a new message from base and is she sure she doesn't want a towel to dry her hair with because humans are so sensitive to temperature changes.

"I'm sure," she says breathlessly. "Go ahead and play the message, R2."

A holograph of Poe appears and he smiles in her direction.

"Hey," he says calmly. "One hand, hunh? Pretty impressive, desert girl. So, I had an entire message about the improvements I'm making to my ship ready for you because I know hearing about engine modifications gets you all giddy, but I thought you might like another topic this time."

He slides over and Finn slots in beside him, nearly plowing into Poe's side, beaming and grinning like mad and Rey's beaming and grinning back equally as mad while laughing.

"Hey, Rey!" Finn says. "Look who they let get out of bed! Finally! I thought I'd never escape the view of that ceiling. And you! Off learning about the secrets of the universe!" He leans forward and whispers. "I know you can't talk about it, but it's cool, right? What you're doing? It's probably the coolest thing ever and I'm jealous, not going to lie. I'm so jealous. What's it like? They have me drawing stuff, if you can believe it. I'm drawing and writing down everything I know, which is, naturally, a whole lot."

Poe snorts and Finn elbows him and says, "Watch it, fly-boy."

Rey laughs watching her two friends tell her about their lives and she misses them more than she thought she could miss anyone but instead of feeling sad about it, she actually feels comforted knowing she has actual people to miss.

After dinner, she meditates and manages to clear her mind, but the sensation of happiness and comfort lingers.

* * *

She shifts the cooling pack on her hand, wincing slightly as she looks into the recording device and says, "Hey. So, apparently my control over open flames leaves something to be desired."

* * *

"So guess who has an aptitude for interpreting schematics?" Finn's shivering hologram says grinning while hologram-Poe looks on fondly as Finn points his thumbs towards his chest. "This guy!"

* * *

"I don't really have anything to say," Rey says, not able to look up. "I just..." She twists her hands together. "I'm learning. I'm getting better at controlling stuff, but sometimes." She closes her eyes. "Sometimes it's just too big. All of it. The Force. The universe. All of it. It's all so vast and I'm so small. I'm just a scavenger."

* * *

Their faces are grave and so welcome when she turns on the latest recording.

"Rey," Finn says even as Poe leans forward.

"You have never been just anything," Poe says, and she can sense the surety in his voice, in his words, all the way across the galaxy.

"You're the girl who flies the Millenium Falcon through dead Imperial Star Cruisers," Finn adds. "You're _everything_."

"Rey," Poe says, starting to smile. "You got this."

* * *

She's quiet as she sits in a familiar position in front of R2 staring down at the floor. Eventually, R2 beeps and Rey looks up.

"Okay, start recording, please," she says. Once the little light is on, she stares and says, "Hey. I'm coming back to you. Tell the General... _we're_ coming back."

* * *

The new base is situated on a planet not too far from the outer rim. It's atmosphere is foggier than anything Rey's ever lived in, but she and Chewie land the Falcon expertly. Her stomach is a tangle of nerves and she's clinging to all of her training and breathing exercises with all her might.

Luke throws her an amused look and she'd say something sarcastic to him if she didn't know how anxious he is about seeing his sister. His anxiety has been an extra guest on the ship the entire time and as much as she loves the Falcon, she's ready to be off it.

The hatch opens and the first thing she sees is Finn smiling broadly and standing straight wearing Poe's borrowed jacket. The second thing she sees is Poe standing beside him, also smiling, but attempting to be professional and reserved, BB-8 beeping happily at his feet.

Her attention is captured by the sight of the General, Leia, striding forward because Luke has just stopped in his tracks at the base of the ramp.

Rey steadies her own emotions to provide Luke with a secure connection while he takes a moment to let his own emotions swirl around them all.

But then Leia is cupping his face in her hands and he's leaning forward to press his forehead to hers. Rey can't hear what they're saying to each other, but some of the tension leaves Luke and Rey can breathe a bit easier.

She glances at Finn and Poe and simultaneously they both raise their eyebrows at her. She has to bite her lip to hold back laughter and looks to Luke.

Who is looking at her with affection and says, "Go. But don't forget your meditation."

"I won't," she says nodding quickly and then she's walking briskly down the ramp, past Leia who smiles at her and then she's in front of them.

"Hi," she says and why has she lost her breath?

"Oh, no. I think we can do better than that," Finn says and then she's in his arms and he's hugging her tightly as he whirls her around.

She laughs and hugs him back just as fiercely.

He comes to a stop and sets her down. She glances at Poe and he's just beaming at the both of them.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," she says back, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Seriously?" Finn says.

Rey grins and so does Poe and then she's in another pair of strong arms being whirled around and when he sets her back down, he keeps hold of one hand while Finn grabs her other one and oh, this what they mean when they talk about home, isn't it?

* * *

It's not until much later that she makes the time to meditate. To sit and sort through her own thoughts and emotions and settle them down.

The boys along with BB-8 had shown Chewie and her around the base, which was smaller than the previous one, but filled with a few faces she remembered. After Chewie diverted towards medical with a nonchalance that fooled absolutely no one, they ended up in the canteen talking about everything they'd done over the last several months.

Eventually, they had to separate to go perform their assigned duties (Finn is assisting in engineering while Poe is still training the new recruits), but agreed to meet up in Rey's room later.

And it's approaching 'later' while she sits on the floor of her new room, her eyes closed and her mind open.

The door chimes and without moving, she calls, "Come in."

She's only beginning to realize that she had managed to carry both of their impressions with her across the galaxy, and that, in truth, they've never been very far from her in a Force sense. But their actual presences so close to her is something else and she smiles as they walk in, but doesn't open her eyes, just lets their emotions and scents and, for lack of a better word, auras fill her senses.

She exhales slowly and opens her eyes.

They're staring at her with something she can't quite name, but it's strong and heady and if she wasn't already sitting down, she might sway from the intensity of it.

They all blink and the moment passes, but Rey files it away to think on later.

"We come bearing dinner," Poe says taking a seat on the floor, and setting down a tray with two filled plates on it.

"And dessert," Finn says holding up a thermos and his own dinner tray.

Rey's eyes widen. "Is that hot chocolate?"

Poe chuckles. "Told you," he says to Finn, who just winks at Rey.

Poe hands her a plate and she's so grateful to eat something that isn't fish or stew she bounces a little.

"So, how hard was it?" Finn asks as they start to eat. "Your training."

Rey swallows. "Very hard. Not impossible, but hard." She wrinkles her nose. "The hardest part was unlearning things, only to re-learn them. I'm still not completely comfortable with hand to hand combat."

"Who is?" Poe asks shrugging. "Why do you think I like to fly?"

"Pick up any new stuff?" Finn asks.

"Well," she says, looking at their plates. With a tiny movement of her finger, their plates lift out of their hands and float to hover just at their eye level, then they float back down to their hands. Once she's sure they have hold of them again, her mind lets them go and she takes a bite of her dinner.

The boys stare down at their plates and then at her.

"I can do boulders, too," she says around a mouthful of food.

They glance at each other before Poe says grinning, "You know, no one likes a show-off."

Rey kicks his ankle.

"Can you lift me?" Finn asks, his eyes wide. "Seriously, can you? Will you? No, wait, don't. But later - will you?"

Rey just laughs.

They finish dinner and sit on the floor, close to one another as they sip hot chocolate from mismatched mugs.

"How's the General? Leia?" she asks.

Poe take a drink, then answers, "Determined. Steady." He frowns. "Sad. I mean, she's always been...quiet. But now?"

Rey nods and looks down into her mug. "It's going to get worse before it even starts to get better. I can feel it, whatever it is, gathering on the horizon. Something's coming."

"That's what I thought," Finn says setting his mug down and taking her free hand. "I'm glad you're back."

She squeezes his hand and sets her mug down, too. "I'm glad I'm back, too. I..." She looks down and slips her other hand over Poe's where it rests on his knee. "I missed you. Both of you."

"Missed you, too," Poe says and there's something in his voice that has her looking up at him. That heady look is back in his eyes and she knows that he knows how much she can sense now, but he's not holding anything back and there's an echoing emotion coming from Finn and she looks over. He's gazing at her with the same swirl of intensity and she can't quite catch her breath.

"Too much?" Finn asks, looking worried.

She shakes her head. "No! Not too much, just...I didn't expect you to-"

"Feel the same?" Poe asks lifting her hand and she looks over in time to see him press a kiss to her palm. He looks at her while his lips hover just above her skin. "We do." The corner of his mouth quirks up. "Took me by surprise, I gotta say."

"Not me," Finn says grinning. "I knew this would happen."

"You did not," Rey says laughing.

"Did so," he says and then he's leaning forward and kissing her so gently, Rey thinks she might start levitating herself. He pulls back and she blinks her eyes open.

"Oh," she breathes and he smiles and she leans forward to return the kiss before she asks, "Is this-? What do we do now?"

"Sleep," Poe says moving to sit closer and rest their joined hands on her knee. "Train. Fight. Win. Sleep some more." He kisses her neck and murmurs into the sensitive skin beneath her ear, "Whatever you want, Rey. That's what we'll do."

She sighs as closes her eyes and she has a brief flash of something from the Force. It's nothing more than a tangle of hands but it feels like comfort and home.

Opening her eyes, she looks at them both and says, "Sleep sounds good." But then she leans back to lie on the floor drawing them both down with her. "Later."


End file.
